Thursday, February 8, 2018

Planets Discovered Orbiting Star From Another Galaxy

A
team of astrophysicists at the University of Oklahoma (OU) has
discovered the first planets located beyond the Milky Way Galaxy.
Through a technique known as microlensing, the researchers were able to
detect the stellar objects, with masses ranging from that of the moon to
Jupiter.
“We are very excited about this discovery. This is the first time anyone
has discovered planets outside our galaxy,” said Xinyu Dai, a professor at OU and co-discover. “These small
planets are the best candidate for the signature we observed in this
study using the microlensing technique. We analyzed the high frequency
of the signature by modelling the data to determine the mass.” Planets
have often been discovered within the Milky Way using microlensing.
However in this instance, the gravitational effect of small objects
create a high-enough magnification, leading to a signature that could be
modelled and explained in extragalactic galaxies.

Image Credit: University of Oklahoma

“This is an example of how powerful the techniques of analysis of
extragalactic microlensing can be. This galaxy is located 3.8 billion
light years away, and there is not the slightest chance of observing
these planets directly, not even with the best telescope one can imagine
in a science fiction scenario,” said Eduardo Guerras, an OU postdoctoral researcher. “However, we are able to
study them, unveil their presence and even have an idea of their masses.
This is very cool science.”
Read more about this fascinating story at: https://www.ou.edu/content/publicaffairs/archives/2018/OUAstrophysictsDiscoverPlanetsinExtragalacticGalaxies.html

Article Compiled By: Kyle Tam

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